Thursday, 21 October 2010

It will be great to say hello and to talk to you about our plans for 2011, which see's us offering more of our very popular set date safaris to Zambia and beyond. Both Tony and Tyrone will be on stand along with Linda Lee all of whom have been busy on safari this year and will be taking set date departures Africa in 2011. Come and share our enthusiasm for safari.Both Tony and Tyrone will be on stand along with Linda Lee all of whom have been busy on safari this year and will be taking set date departures Africa in 2011. Come and share our enthusiasm for safari

We will have our new highlights brochure available on stand.

You can find out how we, strive to avoid the single Supplement charges for solo travelers.

We have some unique idea's if you want to try a different safari experience: Walking & Bush camping - Photography & art in the bush - Specific Species (Lion , / Wild dog / Gorilla) or very special places (Liuwa Plain / Banweulu / The Okavango). Or may be you would like some inspiration

looking forward to seeing our old friends / clients and chatting to new clients who would like some real advise from the people who know the bush and the camps.

If you would like complimentary tickets please just get in touch letting us know your address and we will do the rest.

Wednesday, 20 October 2010

Having been met at Luaska airport and been driven by out trusty driver the 3 or 4 hours in to the bush my latest guests duly arrived at Mukambi , the starting point of there first safari in to the Kafue. After a spot of lunch and a rest I suggested to my new guests (a Lord and Lady from the UK, no less!) we head to the Shishamba area not far from Mukambi Lodge. At first it seemed we would being seeing little more than the tsteste flies which were particularly prevalent that afternoon, that was until we spotted in a dry river bed some interesting little shapes. As we got closer we saw one, then two, then three, little lions cubs! In total we counted 9 small cubs, plus 3 Lionesses on close guard not far away. We sat and watched the pride into darkness, by which time it was time to head back to camp. Along the way we found a Honey Badger ( a big favorite of mine ) and just as we reached Mukambi we found our selves following 2 more Lionesses meandering along the track in no hurry for anything. What a drive!

The next morning we rose early for the drive across the Kafue to the Busanga Plains and my camp/home , a favorite journey of mine as it takes you through some fantastic different habitats always lots of wildlife around and plus a good chance to catch a Leopard or even a Lion before the heat of the day gets too much. As we reached the gate to the park some 7kms from camp Mukambi we spotted in the rising sun 2 very large male lions, feeding on what looked like a baby Impala. What a start! We watched for a while before carrying on following the by know very dusty track across the bush, about 1 hour later we encountered another huge male lion plus a second male and female not far behind. We couldn’t believe our luck and it wasn’t even 08:00 yet!

As we pushed on towards Lufupa rougly 1/3rd of the way , something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I slammed on the breaks and decided to reverse to see what I may have seen, this was a wise move as sitting on a termite mound was a pack of 5 Wild Dog! We quickly rattled of some pictures before they headed off into the thicket. Wow!

Past Lufupa camp we headed, stopping for some drinks and at the famous ‘Rocks’, some ½ hour from Lufupa camp a beautiful area wherev giant boldours are scattered close to a shrinking oxbow laggon that attrracts all kinds of animals and birds. On rising over a small gully dead ahead of us lying under a tree was a large… pride of Lions! We counted 2 cubs, 5 Lionesses and 2 sub adult males. This safari was getting better, we couldn’t believe it! Onwards we drove still awestruck at the game we had seen. As we approached the turn off for Moshi Camp I once again spotted something under a shaded bush, but what was it? We went to investigate and found, you guessed it! 2 more Lionesses! This was madness!Again off we headed! We reached the Musanza area, at the base of the Plains, on our final leg to camp. We could not believe what we had been seeing! It hadn’t stopped there though as we rounded a corner a saw 1 young male lion trotting off into the thicket (no pictures of him but we didn’t mind!).We finally arrived at camp after stopping to enjoy a fantastic herd of Sable in the middle of the plains but with all of us in disbelief at all the Lions we had seen!The afternoon came after a few hours rest and a nice hearty lunch. It was time for the evening drive! We set off and found some wonderful birds and spectacular Roan antelope. As the sun was setting we reached a small pool of water in the south of the plains, but what was that inside it? Out came the binoculars and what did we find but a dead Hippo! Not only a dead Hippo, but one with 5 Lions feeding off it!This was an exceptional days sighting by anybodies standards. Over 40 different Lions in 24 hours… oh and don’t forget the Wild Dogs!

Sunday, 17 October 2010

When Tyrone was around 10 I took him on safari to Zambia and we visited the Kafue for a week or two and we spent some wonderful days on the Busanga plains following herds of Buffalo and watching the Lions,in awe of the drama that is the Busanga. 12 years later with Busanga Safaris help our clients to experience the best wildlife encounters and Tyrone with a university degree under his belt,he is managing a simply beautiful bush camp in the heart of the plains, where his deceptivly hard work keeping camp running smoothly for the guest lucky enough to have chosen the Busanga as a safari destination. His work also alows for a great deal of wildlife encounters from vehichle and often on foot as some of the local resident Lions use camp as a base during teritorial patrols or even you camp as a place from which to ambush passing Lechwe antelope. (see previous blog about Comedy Dave). As the season goes on so the Lions and Tyrone become used to each other and so it was not surprising to hear that Tyrone recntly found two young Lions had run amock in his office/radio room turning over tables and chairs and re wireing the radio! Now it appears they use the raised wooden walk way which crosses a swamp river to avoid getting wet feet ! A recent game drive ended as usual with guests about to step down and begin the walk to camp when in the beam of the Landrovers lights Tyrone noticed several univited guests already on the way to camp, yep you guessed it!

Wednesday, 6 October 2010

We love taking our clients on safari ! Here is a great message from Lesley Pritt who joined us on a Kafue safari. Priceless!!

If you love people watching, then the Plains Camp is definitely the place for you. Although, you’ll need to replace “people” with “puku” and “lechwe” as you’ll barely see another soul outside of the camp, which makes it a rather special place to spend some time.

There are many great things about this camp. One of them is whiling away an afternoon, watching the herds grazing, as you sit around camp sipping a cool drink.

It was one such afternoon, when Tony and I were engaged in an unusually intellectual debate about a bachelor herd of lechwe; were they forming a lek?

Quick editorial note: Breeding males compete for central positions on a lek (breeding ground) where females come to breed. Up to 90% of females in a local population visit the leks and mate with centrally placed males.

If you are anything like me, then part of the entertainment of people watching is creating stories about those you are observing. Let me tell you, at first glance a herd of 100 lechwe may seem pretty similar. After an afternoon’s observation, you will soon start to see some personalities emerging….

It was while we were scanning around with the binos, we spotted another male at some distance. We wanted to know whether he would join the other males. We watched as he chose a position some way away from the rest and started scent marking by rubbing each side of his face on the ground. The area he selected for this was somewhat unfortunate in that the ground consisted of very dry hay; this became stuck to his face. The effort of trying to remove this was in vain, he sat down to contemplate his next move. (See photo)

Tony and I surmised that he had decided on a different strategy to other males. Perhaps he was not as smart or as good looking as the others; perhaps his foot stamping was not as emphatic…. But what is a female really after? Of course, a male with a GSOH! So we named him “Comedy Dave” (hail his alter ego on the Chris Moyles breakfast show)

Let’s now fast forward our story to the evening. Back at the camp with drinks before dinner, you’ll find yourself sitting around a fire, mulling over the day’s events. It’s very dark so you see nothing on the plains around you. We heard an alarm call, and then very quickly, another. Tony and Tyrone switched on their torches to sweep the surrounding area – now we were all alert. Suddenly the air was thick with the sound of thundering hooves running past and in the torchlight we spotted the eyes of a lioness chasing the lechwe right across us. In a moment with a classic set piece of lion hunting, another lioness moved in from the other direction and without a sound; a lechwe was brought down and killed, only 100 mtrs from our fire. A male lechwe….. you may see where I’m going with this.

This was a totally unexpected addition to the evening and the boys at the camp quickly sprang into action to move us to the safety of the veranda and set up lights so we could see what was happening. We watched while a lion and a third lioness with cubs moved in on the kill and settled down to eat. We also decided to have our own dinner and left them to it. After dinner, we took our coffee and watched the progress of the lions’ feast.

In the morning the lions had moved on (although we saw a footprint by the fire, so clearly they came to have a nose around). Not a lot of lechwe was left, apart from a pair of horns. It would make a better story, although much more tragic for Dave, if I could say there was a pathetic twist of hay around the horns, but this is not true. So not every story can have a happy ending in life and death on the Busanga Plains, but I hear there’s a lechwe moral that Dave might have done well to remember…. It doesn’t pay to stand out from the herd.

Was it Dave? Who knows? He had a 1 in a 100 chance. I really hope not as I’d grown rather fond of him and Tyrone has promised he’ll look out for him (he may just be humouring me – he’s a nice guy). We will never forget our evening and we are amazed to have had the fantastic privilege to witness to an event like this.